Fielding Chase (William Shatner) plants theatrical "pancake" makeup at the murder scene to implicate an actor friend of the victim. In his previous appearance as the murderer in Fade in to Murder (1976), Shatner portrayed an actor, and the presence of theatrical makeup was one of the clues that implicated him.
The tie that is worn by Fielding Chase (William Shatner) in his opening scene is the same tie that Lauren Staton (Faye Dunaway) bought for Columbo (Peter Falk) in the previous Columbo TV movie 'It's All In The Game'
After Fade in to Murder (1976), this episode marks William Shatner's second appearance as the murderer in an episode of Columbo (1971).
When Columbo visits Chase in his home gym, the music playing on the TV News at Noon is the same music used on the menu screen of the Columbo DVD box set.